Careforce acquires assets of Pictou County business

Phyllis MacDonald, left, of Pictou County Home Care and Debbie Raine of the Kentville-based Careforce have inked a deal to combine the two co-op businesses. - Submitted

Two Nova Scotia worker co-ops have joined forces to provide quality home health care throughout the Annapolis Valley and Pictou County.

Careforce Home Care Workers Co-operative Limited, based in Kentville, has purchased the assets of Pictou County Home Care Co-operative Limited, which will continue to operate under the name Pictou County Home Care as a division of Careforce.

Phyllis MacDonald will become the director of operations. Her mother, Kathy Bubar RN, founded the Pictou County co-op in 1988, and MacDonald joined the business a few years later.

The two co-ops have a combined 58 years’ experience in providing a range of home care services to seniors and to people of all ages with injuries or disabilities. They employ approximately 80 caregivers across both regions.

“The two worker co-ops have a long history of working together and supporting each other,” says Debbie Raine, manager of Careforce. “Over the years, we have often shared information and worked together on projects. When the opportunity to bring our businesses together arose, it seemed like a natural fit.”

For Careforce, the deal means expanding beyond the Valley and strengthening the business. The aim is to continue offering consistent, high-quality home care in both regions.

“Our greater numbers will strengthen our capacity to offer care, but they will also enable us to combine our resources and strengthen our administrative support to be more productive and efficient,” she says.

Any new expansion or moves into new territories will be under the Careforce name.

For Pictou County Home Care, the merger means maintaining their local brand while continuing to deliver the same high-quality home health care in Pictou County and beyond. The deal also creates a succession plan that keeps local control and investment within the community and looks after the business’s care workers.

“It’s a win-win. Our caregivers are excited that they’ll have access to better benefits than we could offer them, because we were a smaller organization. They’ll have more recognition and more of a future, too.”

Dianne Kelderman, president and chief executive officer of the Nova Scotia Co-operative Council, says this move is a win-win.

“Co-ops are more relevant than ever, in Nova Scotia and nationally, in terms of economic issues we face and a strong social fabric,” she says. “I think it’s great that Careforce and Pictou County worker co-ops can come together, join forces, and be stronger. To see this collaboration among co-operatives, which is one of our values and principles, is terrific. We hope it will result in the new co-operative being stronger and better.”